The US population is estimated to grow by more than 110 million people by 2050, and much of this growth will take place where cities and their suburbs are expanding to meet the suburbs of neighboring cities, creating continuous urban megaregions. There are now at least a dozen megaregions in the US. If current trends continue unchanged, new construction in these megaregions will put more and more stress on the natural systems that are necessary for our existence, will make highway gridlock and airline delays much worse, and will continue to attract investment away from older areas. However, the megaregion in 2050 is still a prediction. Future economic and population growth could go only to environmentally safe locations. while helping repair landscapes damaged by earlier development. Improved transportation systems could reduce highway and airport congestion. Some new investment could be drawn to by-passed parts of older cities, which are becoming more separate and unequal.

In Designing the Megaregion, planning and urban design expert Jonathan Barnett describes how to redesign megaregional growth using mostly private investment, without having to wait for massive government funding or new governmental structures. Barnett explains practical initiatives to make new development fit into its environmental setting, especially important as the climate changes; reorganize transportation systems to pull together all the components of these large urban regions; and redirect the market forces which are making megaregions very unequal places.

There is an urgent need to begin designing megaregions, and Barnett shows that the ways to make major improvements are already available.

"Barnett proposes practical solutions and offers commonsense observations on what to avoid in the future."

"The strength of the book lies in its emphasis on regional planning and the environmental context, examples of regional governance, and latest innovations in transportation and land use planning…. Barnett has provided invaluable insights into a regional form of planning that does not receive as much attention in the literature as it deserves."

"In the era of thinking about infrastructure, we can only hope that planners and policy-makers will pick up this concise and thoughtful book and use it as a guide for reimagining regional planning and design."

“Jonathan Barnett … has written the definitive book on the subject of regional planning for contemporary times.”

"Slim and thorough account."

"Megaregions are becoming the new engines of our society. Jonathan Barnett opens new horizons to the challenge of integrating economic development, social equity, and environmental sustainability. Designing the Megaregion is a meaningful and inspiring contribution for the future of designing cities."

"Jonathan Barnett's practical suggestions for coordinated action at the local, regional, state, and federal levels to build sustainable, equitable megaregions will be of interest to planners, policy makers, and others engaged in urban issues."

"Jonathan Barnett clearly describes the roots and relevancy of many urban and regional forms and systems, providing an opportunity for shared understanding and collaboration by everyone interested in the fate of cities. Especially important, he lays out the relationship of fundamental policy choices to racial, environmental, and economic inequities, as well as pathways toward more equitable development. Readers would do well to consider Designing the Megaregion as a gateway to further investigation and an invitation to participate in the design of their megaregions."

"In Designing the Megaregion, Jonathan Barnett cogently explains why developing frequent, trip-time competitive passenger rail service linking cities along fast-growing corridors in megaregions is the only way to avoid highway and aviation congestion."